Anonymous continues its hack offensive against Westboro Baptist Church

Anonymous's wrath may have extended to DDoS attacks and obtaining WBC SSNs.

A Westboro Baptist Church member's Twitter account was hacked and has been tweeting about it since Sunday evening.

Over the weekend, Anonymous was stirred to action against an old nemesis: the Westboro Baptist Church. The most recent feud came in the wake of WBC’s appalling reaction to the Sandy Hook shooting Friday in Newtown, CT. Anonymous’s offensive increased in intensity as WBC announced plans to picket a vigil for the elementary school’s victims. The hacker collective has since managed to hijack a high-profile Twitter account as well as take down WBC’s site, among other claimed victories.

Anonymous, like much of the world, has a deep-seated hatred for the wildly intolerant WBC. Upon discovering WBC’s unsympathetic reaction to the shooting, Anonymous began by doxing some of the church’s members that it could find on Twitter. It also encouraged followers to sign a whitehouse.gov petition recognizing WBC as a hate group.

For a brief time, it seemed as though WBC and Anonymous might come to blows at the vigil. A hashtag, #occupynewtown, suggested that if WBC showed up to the vigil, Anonymous members and supporters should form a human wall separating the WBC picketers from the families mourning the losses. Fortunately for all involved, it appears the picket didn’t come to pass. No official word on whether the classic pizza-ordering tactic happened either.

Whatever Anon actually did, it appears they can claim victory over the WBC today.

What do they actually think they are accomplishing other than getting the media to talk about them? None of this does anything at all to these l disgusting people. When will we stop hearing about these script kiddies?

Well I guess doing something like this could help their image? It's not like the WBC has many fans.

For once it appears that their vigilantism is directed at the people who deserve it.

Edit: I have to admit, the White House Petition is a nice touch.

You're being rather generous, referring to WBC members as "people". Their antics make me consider posting an image macro about not wanting to live on this planet anymore, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable being in the same galaxy as these assclowns. If Anon can keep WBC from their shenanigans by wasting their time with social security paperwork, I'm all for it!

What do they actually think they are accomplishing other than getting the media to talk about them? None of this does anything at all to these l disgusting people. When will we stop hearing about these script kiddies?

Well I guess doing something like this could help their image? It's not like the WBC has many fans.

No not really since it accomplishes nothing. If you know anything about these people you know this kind of attack does noting to hurt or slow their campaign of hate. They actually WANT people to come after them. Best thing we can do about the WBC people is ignoring them. Don't give them any press. Press is what they crave.

So they didn't picket in front of the funeral? They seem to come with those statements just for the PR they get. It was the same thing when Breivik went on his killing spree in Norway, WBC said they would come, but nothing came of it.

The WBC people aren't a church -- they're the whack-job family of an attorney who is doing his best to manipulate the system with his tax exempt "church." What they're really after are excuses to sue people. Having the script kiddies after them is perfect.

What do they actually think they are accomplishing other than getting the media to talk about them? None of this does anything at all to these l disgusting people. When will we stop hearing about these script kiddies?

The point IS media exposure. and you know what? it works. if not for them, I wouldn't even know what this Church is. same as the Scientology cult.People need to talk about this.

No not really since it accomplishes nothing. If you know anything about these people you know this kind of attack does noting to hurt or slow their campaign of hate. They actually WANT people to come after them. Best thing we can do about the WBC people is ignoring them. Don't give them any press. Press is what they crave.

This.

WBC has a long history of claiming they will picket a location to get media attention and reaction from outraged citizens. It also serves to multiply their "presence."

Once her twitter has been restored, I am sure Shirley will be tweeting to thank Ars and Anon for the coverage. Like she has every time an outraged group does something to counter them and gets media attention for it. It is more of a meme these days than news. Take it from someone who has had to cover them in the past.

And the dox'ing of WBC is not new. Various Anon's have been doxing them for the last couple of years.

And the White House petition is an appalling display of ignorance of American liberty.

I have have learned in life that wishing away or ignoring problems never makes things better. How naive do you have to be to believe that the WBC would just magically disappear if we all pretended not to see them?

Until I read this article I thought WBC was an acronym for the world boxing council :| I now know who they are and wish I didn't based on how disgusting they are.

At the same time, I'm left wondering if groups like the WBC do these sort of things to draw attention to themselves. I know this is news and all but one has to wonder if it's such a great idea to give a group like this a front page splash on a prominent website like Ars...

Still a crowd of crumpled, dirty black hats as far as I'm concerned. Anon and WBC aren't even two sides of a coin, they share space on the same side. Both groups only do things for the lulz and both groups can really appreciate a world-class troll.

I mean, sure, this is entertaining and all but that is only because I do not believe there is anything that could befall Westboro that would garner even a glimmer of sympathy from me.

What do they actually think they are accomplishing other than getting the media to talk about them? None of this does anything at all to these l disgusting people. When will we stop hearing about these script kiddies?

Well I guess doing something like this could help their image? It's not like the WBC has many fans.

A few people on my twitter feed have retweeted a bunch of stuff from anon's twitter. While they have done some questionable things - the nature of any amorphous group - I have noticed that there are definitely some very positive ways they've been utilizing their ability to disseminate information as well.

I honestly am not sure how I feel about them as a whole..... but in the meantime I guess i shouldn't be wasting the opportunity *gets some popcorn and grabs a seat*

I have have learned in life that wishing away or ignoring problems never makes things better. How naive do you have to be to believe that the WBC would just magically disappear if we all pretended not to see them?

I disagree.

Tyrants wither away in sunlight.

Narcissistic media hogs wither away in darkness.

Sometimes it can be tricky to tell them apart. But not in this case. (We are really in no danger that either Anon's or WBC's messages suddenly start to resonate with the zeitgeist. And even if they did, then we just turn on the sun lamps and let them wither that way.)

I've never understood why, when quoting posts from Twitter, a site designed entirely around brevity, people feel the need to do so by posting giant graphic images of the post instead of merely quoting the text. Is some additional information supposed to be conveyed by including pictures of non-functional links?

In this case my befuddlement is doubled, as the quote appears to be a randomly selected person commenting about the Twitter activity in question, not any direct evidence of the activity itself. Or maybe I'm supposed to know who Ms. Stiefvater is, and her word on the topic carries some kind of extra weight?

Poor Cosmo. This has got to be the last thing he needs right about now.

IMO this situation calls for a creative solution. I'd recommend a two-part operation involving "accidentally" adding the WBC members to the government's "no-fly" list. Then I would apologize profusely while entangling them in a never-ending mess of bureaucracy, taking maybe 8-10 years to resolve. Part 2 would be a similar action, but this time involving IRS audits.

While I absolutely defend the WBC's right of free speech, I am very sympathetic to the type of overworked government employees who can quite easily make errors of this nature.

Those saying that the WBC are in it for the attention are correct. Where they fail is thinking that if we ignore them they'll go away. The WBC have shown in the past that if they don't get the attention they want they'll ratchet things up until they do.

I'd just as soon they get attention from ARS over a slap fight with Anon, than get network coverage because they showed up at a child's funeral with megaphones.

Vigilantism seems a bit strong of a word to describe this, they aren't beating them with baseball bats or torching their houses, it's more akin to Anonymous leaving burning bags of dog crap on their virtual porch.

Those saying that the WBC are in it for the attention are correct. Where they fail is thinking that if we ignore them they'll go away. The WBC have shown in the past that if they don't get the attention they want they'll ratchet things up until they do.

So? They ratchet it up. Eventually, they will (i) get tired of ratcheting, (ii) do something actually illegal, in which case we send them to jail, or (iii) finally ratchet so far that even their own members are embarrassed by their actions.

I'm perfectly happy to never hear about them again until one of those three things occurs.

As an aside, the history of terrorism is that the item I labeled "iii" above is what finally kills a terrorist organization. Eventually, they ratchet up so far that even their supporters turn away from them. WBC aren't really terrorists, but they feed on the public reaction in the same way terrorists do.

They actually WANT people to come after them. Best thing we can do about the WBC people is ignoring them. Don't give them any press. Press is what they crave.

Assault, and monetary damages is what they really crave, according to this interesting post: http://kanewj.com/wbc/

Which is all well and good for them if it stops at assault. If they start pushing too hard, and incite someone to be a martyr for basic human decency, jihadi-style, then that's a bit of a wrinkle in their scheme.

So? They ratchet it up. Eventually, they will (i) get tired of ratcheting, (ii) do something actually illegal, in which case we send them to jail, or (iii) finally ratchet so far that even their own members are embarrassed by their actions.

The problem with your 3 outcomes is, this isn't some whack job cult, it's a single family doing this as a business. AFAIK they have never broken the law, and they don't actually believe what they're saying, so they're not gong to "out crazy" one another.

As far as them getting tired goes, not going to happen, as they don't have to ratchet very far. You try burring a loved one while someone screams "God Hates Fags", and "they deserved to die" with a megaphone over the service. Someone's going to respond, emotions are running too high for them not to.

Quite frankly, I don't see how Anon could truly exist the way they are as a hacker organization to be feared. No hacker organization could exist as publicly as Anon and still be viewed as a threat to good people. To me, Anon is a joke.

Many people think WBC is also a joke, but just think about all the sick fucks that live, or have lived, in this world. The very shooter himself was far more insane and sadistic than WBC. My hatred for WBC lies deep in my head, burned into my brain right next to Nazism ($50 says that WBC also approves of the Holocaust).

Just so you know I live in hell, or "The deep south" as the demons call it. If you think that fanaticism does not exist in the U.S. you are sadly mistaken. For everyone who thinks that WBC does this stuff for publicity, would you trust in the sanity, or even the cognitive function of anyone who would proclaim such offensive views for public infamy?

I've never understood why, when quoting posts from Twitter, a site designed entirely around brevity, people feel the need to do so by posting giant graphic images of the post instead of merely quoting the text. Is some additional information supposed to be conveyed by including pictures of non-functional links?

How hard is it to buy cadavers? Would it be appropriate to send some dressed as people they "thank god for" being dead to their church? Apparently my morbid sense of humor could come in handy if someone knows how to buy a cadaver.

Based on the first couple of comments, I think there is a basic misconception that Anon is an organized group of people. The name says it all. The fact is that this (well deserved) WBC attack is the work of a few Anon members that happen to particularly loathe WBC. It doesn't mean that everyone who considers themselves a part of Anon is necessarily on the same page. This might be a stretch, but I think the reason these attacks are launched under the guise of Anon is because of the name recognition it garners in the public nowadays. Some people from Anon do terrible things, others do commendable things, we just can't analyze "them" as a whole.